My Five Years in Purgatory

My Five Years in Purgatory

Dr. Hal Kushner, featured in The Vietnam War, a film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, was born in 1941 in Honolulu, Hawaii, while his father was serving in the Army Air Corps. He was just six months old when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and Hickam Air Field, where the Kushner family was living at the time. Dr. Kushner entered the Army while a medical student on May 12, 1965 and served as a flight surgeon in Vietnam. He was captured by the Viet Cong west of Tam Ky, South Vietnam, on December 2, 1967. He spent the next 1,933 days in captivity in various prison camps before being released during Operation Homecoming on March 16, 1973.

After repatriation, Col Kushner served consecutive residencies in Internal Medicine and Ophthalmology at Brook Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. He left active duty on September 23, 1977, and joined the Army Reserve, where he retired as a Colonel.

Dr. Kushner was inducted into the Army Aviation Hall of Fame in April 2001.

Dr. Hal Kushner, recently featured in The Vietnam War, a film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, was born in 1941 in Honolulu, Hawaii, while his father was serving in the Army Air Corps. He was just six months old when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and Hickam Air Field, where the Kushner family was living at the time. Dr. Kushner entered the Army while a medical student on May 12, 1965 and served as a flight surgeon in Vietnam. He was captured by the Viet Cong west of Tam Ky, South Vietnam, on December 2, 1967. He spent the next 1,933 days in captivity in various prison camps before being released during Operation Homecoming on March 16, 1973.

After repatriation, Col Kushner served consecutive residencies in Internal Medicine and Ophthalmology at Brook Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. He left active duty on September 23, 1977, and joined the Army Reserve, where he retired as a Colonel.

Dr. Kushner was inducted into the Army Aviation Hall of Fame in April 2001.